Driving past Rivercrest Park in South Seminole Heights, the intersection of N. River Blvd. and W. Louisiana Ave. is hard to miss – brilliant blues and oranges fill the street in an eye-catching pattern that makes any driver want to slow down for a closer look.

And that’s its purpose. The Rivercrest Park painted street art is Tampa’s first street mural project, public art that also serves as a traffic calming device.

The South Seminole Heights Civic Association (SSHCA) installed the mural in 2017 as a creative way to curb speeding at an intersection outside a public park with no crosswalk, two blocks from an elementary school.

“It really makes an impact on people driving quickly in the neighborhood because they’re not familiar with the area. They slow down to see what it is,” says SSHCA President Stephen Lytle. “It’s a gentle reminder that we need to be cognizant of pedestrians. It’s done its job effectively.”

Which brings us back to Sterling Avenue.

Anyone living, walking, biking around Sterling Avenue between Bay to Bay Blvd. and El Prado Blvd. knows the frustrations of this road. There are no stops or crosswalks for this 0.6-mile stretch – even on streets like Obispo (which provides an otherwise connected sidewalk route to Roosevelt Elementary School) or Corona (outside a public park). Cars use Sterling as a racetrack, its smooth, unimpeded surface encouraging speeds well over the posted 25mph (15mph by the park!).

Residents have complained about it for years. They have called the City and demanded traffic studies (without success). They have called the news (lots of stories, no big change).

It’s time to take on this problem ourselves. The City of Tampa has approved the Palma Ceia Neighborhood Association’s request to explore installing our own Street Mural Project at the intersection of S. Sterling Avenue and W. Corona St. So how can we go about creating our own change in how Sterling Avenue functions?

Here’s how the process works:

1. Form a Street Mural Project Group

2. Solicit designs from professional artists familiar with large format design

3. Get together as a neighborhood and vote on a design

4. Check the boxes – get a sign off from the City and pull permits

5. Pick a day that promises fair weather, invite the neighbors, and paint the street!

“The neighborhood was involved in the entire process,” Lytle says of the Rivercrest Park mural. “Everybody in our neighborhood had an opportunity to be involved if they so chose. We had a great time doing it!”

If you are interested in being part of the project group working on painting a street mural at the Sterling and Corona intersection, please email palmaceiana@gmail.com.

Imagine the City of Tampa could cut traffic accidents by 19% on a thoroughfare that handles 18,000 vehicles a day. Would they pursue it?

Imagine further, that this simple intervention could be implemented at no additional cost, completed in a few days, and did nothing to impede the existing flow of traffic. Would those benefits compel the city’s top executive to green-light his engineers’ recommendation?

No.

Let that sink in for a moment, because this is our reality. Hillsborough County owns a road that runs right through the heart of Palma Ceia. Looking for guidance on what’s “best for Tampa”, officials turned to the City for comment. Our otherwise forward-looking Mayor then advised the County to say no to Vision Zero, no to Complete Streets, and, instead, to embrace a road design for Bay to Bay Blvd. last considered best practice during the Nixon administration.

As Hillsborough County teams with City of Tampa to move Bay to Bay forward, let's make sure County officials understand City engineers’ recommendation as the safer-streets proposal that is was. Further, let’s make sure Hillsborough County Public Works Director John Lyons sees he has the public support to follow through on the County’s Vision Zero mandate and position greater Tampa Bay for future growth.

If last weekend is any indication, that support seems to be mounting.

Sunday’s “Walk for Safer Streets” - a community response prompted by the City’s decision - attracted close to 120 participants from the surrounding Palma Ceia neighborhood. Pushing strollers, walking dogs, and making their way to stops at local Bay to Bay Blvd. businesses, walkers teamed up to navigate telephone poles, inaccessible sidewalks and generally dangerous conditions as 45 mph traffic less than a foot from the sidewalk whizzed by them.

Nearly 120 residents from the Bay to Bay Blvd. corridor took the streets on April 29. Their message? Our neighborhood is not just an on-ramp to the Crosstown Expressway.

Their collective message? The Bay to Bay corridor is a neighborhood of value, dotted with schools, boutiques, and restaurants; it’s not just a on-ramp to the Crosstown Expressway. Residents want the City to better ensure the safety of the people who walk, commute and live here.

As the City Transportation Manager went out of his way to articulate during a public meeting on the proposed project, the benefits primarily accrue to drivers and to pedestrians. The Complete Street Design was safer for cars, reducing the likelihood of collision between 19% and 47% by moving turning cars into a central lane. And by curbing dangerous passing behaviors, pedestrians also benefited, as aggressive drivers’ speeds would have been governed by those of the law-abiding citizens in front of them. Importantly, the study contracted by the City also indicated that the new design would produce no measurable increase in peak commute times for motorists.

Implicit in the Manager’s presentation was a somewhat counter-intuitive message: lane reductions can yield more efficient traffic flows. Those certified by the State as traffic engineers understand this. Most others do not.

That asymmetry of information and experience should give policy-makers pause before ceding ground to our community’s more reactionary constituents.

And yet, that ground in the campaign for a safer Bay to Bay corridor was quickly lost. Appealing to “conventional wisdom”, skeptics dismissed the results of the $50,000 study commissioned by the City. They raised questions about the credibility of engineers delivering recommendations, stating flatly, “we don’t believe you.”

For those of us living on the Bay to Bay corridor, observing the Complete Street debate has been like watching a slow-motion-car crash. Under normal circumstances, you’d expect the norms of research and policy-making to usher Palma Ceia residents to a safer, more appealing destination. But in this case, the forces of skepticism and misinformation combined to knock Mayor Buckhorn and his team off the road.

The good news? An ever growing number of people - including the 120 that walked on Sunday - see the Complete Street proposal for what it is: a needed update that enables safer routes to school, accelerates the growth of a budding business corridor, and contributes to Bob Buckhorn’s legacy as an empathetic and forward-looking Mayor for the City of Tampa.

The road to effective infrastructure is fraught. Let’s signpost the clear path Mayor Buckhorn and Public Works Director Lyons need to get us there safely. They might just offer Tampa residents the same unobstructed route in return.

This is what a kindergartener sees walking to school across Bay to Bay Blvd.

If this looks scary, remember what’s coming from the other direction.

Not to mention northbound cars turning right through the walk signal and southbound cars turning left through the walk signal. (Florida laws permit cars to drive through crosswalks unless there is a pedestrian in the portion of the crosswalk the car is crossing.)

If this set up seems to you like a dangerous design for children, too bad – Mayor Buckhorn is all for it.

With the Mayor’s decision to cancel his own traffic engineers’ proposed redesign of Bay to Bay Blvd., children’s safety is placed at risk.

But the Mayor’s announcement goes further. He doesn’t just insist on four lanes of traffic for children to cross instead of the two-lane plus turn lane “Complete Street” project. He plans to narrow each lane, packing cars closer in together while also extending turn lanes to allow cars to drive even faster on a road already known for excessive speeding.

Children from four different public schools must cross Bay to Bay daily to go to and from school. Two of these schools, Roosevelt Elementary and Plant High, will be impacted by the failure of the redesign effort. Had Bay to Bay plans moved forward, the project’s designers (City employees) intended to extend the safer road design further, improving safety for Mabry Elementary and Coleman Middle School students. Now that won’t happen either.

Most parents and students crossing Bay to Bay will tell you: this is a risky crossing, either by car or on foot. So why has Buckhorn refused to consider children’s needs in the neighborhood traffic plans? Why put cars first, kids last?

Tampa is consistently one of the most dangerous places to be on the roads. When Buckhorn himself asked the community, over 80% of those surveyed said fixing our transportation problems was the project they most wanted to see his waning administration take on. But Buckhorn has repeatedly blocked efforts to include pedestrians and cyclists – and especially children – in any development plans.

Buckhorn should take notes from other cities that have navigated rapid growth. Complete Streets, bike lanes, pedestrian pathways – these are all methods other communities have used to alleviate traffic woes.

Mayor Buckhorn, your unilateral decision to abandon months of planning and research puts our children at risk getting to school. Showing up at public marches talking about student safety is a great photo op but does nothing to address the time when children are most in danger in our community: on the road to school.

Mayor Buckhorn, please hold a public hearing to address your brand new, untested, unresearched plan for Bay to Bay. Allow the people who actually live here to offer their opinion on how their neighborhood will work.

What would make Hillsborough Country students feel safer walking to school? More sidewalks and crosswalks? Less distracted driving? Flashing lights for pedestrians?

Whether you’re talking to a parent or a child walking to school, you hear similar requests – like that of ten-year-old walker Quinn, who says, “I wish there were more sidewalks, because if there were, cars would see me better and I’d feel safer.”

The Sidewalk Stompers recently met with fourth graders from Roosevelt Elementary School to talk about advocacy for pedestrian safety.

About half of the students with whom we spoke participate in Sidewalk Stompers’ weekly Walk to School Wednesdays; they recognize the daily dangers in their walk to school. Those who don’t regularly walk know traffic risks that keep their parents from getting them to school on foot.

So, while the word “advocacy” may have been new to these kids, they know exactly what they need to feel safer walking to school.

More sidewalks and wider sidewalks

Pedestrian-only roads/paths with separate bike lanes

More stop signs

More yield to pedestrian signs

More crosswalks

Less distracted driving

Flashing lights at crosswalks

More speed bumps

These fourth graders recognized their responsibilities as pedestrians, too, and created a list of advice for students walking to school. This is how they take their safety into their own hands:

Don’t walk in the road (use sidewalks where available, or walk in the grass)

Look both ways before crossing! Left-right-left

Pay Attention

Watch what cars are doing – make eye contact

Wear bright-colored or reflective clothing

Check for orange flags or crossing guards

No distracted walking

Just a decade old, these students know not only how to take care of themselves on the road, but also the changes their communities need to make walking to school safer and easier.

Tampa and Hillsborough planners, let’s take their guidance: put safety infrastructure along key school walking routes at the top of your to-do list!

On the first Wednesday morning of the month, Mabry Elementary School students head out the door to catch the bus – a Walking School Bus, powered by the students themselves!

“Children are excited to see their friends; parents are excited to see their neighbors. We’re building a community and building a movement,” says Arianne Corbett, Mabry parent and creator of Mabry’s Walking School Bus (WSB).

Mabry’s WSB program features three “bus” routes starting from three different directions. Families walk or drive to their closest WSB starting point and proceed to the school in a group. The routes and starting times are publicized within the school and everyone is invited to participate, from the smallest kindergartener to the coolest 5th grader. Almost 200 students regularly walk on WSB days, 25% of the school population.

While the Mabry PTA’s Wellness committee designed this program with Mabry students’ health in mind, the results have been more extensive. “We have seen benefits on multiple levels. We started [the WSB] to increase physical activity for our students, but we’re also seeing this broader sense of community in the neighborhoods where the ‘buses’ travel,” Corbett says. Walking in a group also makes all of the children safer by creating a more visible presence in traffic, she adds.

Mabry’s model is similar to the Walking School Bus program advocated by the Safe Routes to School – a national initiative supported locally by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Safe Routes to School is designed to help parents, school staff, and volunteers create a WSB in their communities.

Safe Routes to School suggests a couple of options for WSB projects. One design is similar to Mabry’s program: children and their parents walk together in a group along a designated route(s). A second plan depends on volunteers to meet children at a designated location and then guide the group to school – this option usually requires formal parental consent and volunteer training.

The WSB approach is distinct from other walk-to-school efforts in that it can cater to students whose distance from, or route to, school is prohibitive or dangerous. Mabry students, for example, can park at designated spots (a public park, a bank parking lot before business hours) and walk with the group.

Another benefit is higher visibility. Mabry students living south of the school must cross several very dangerous intersections to reach the school. A group of 50 children and their parents crossing Bay to Bay or Lois/Henderson or Manhattan will warrant greater attention from drivers than one child crossing alone.

Ready to follow Mabry’s lead and kickstart a WSB for your school community?

1. Choose your model. Parent-led or volunteer-led?

2. Secure parent or volunteer support to manage liability and risks.

3. Select starting points, being sure to scout for nearby parking. Parks and pre-hours businesses make good options.

Driving down Sterling Avenue north of Plant High School, cars slow to pass over a series of speed tables.

The City of Tampa says this sign, the only speed deterrent on Sterling Avenue, is not enforceable.

Driving down Sterling Avenue to the south, particularly south of Bay to Bay Blvd., it’s a different story – with no stop signs, no crosswalks, and not even enforceable speed limit signs, there is no deterrent to excessive speeding.

Who took speed tables off the table on Tampa streets?

Speed tables, or speed humps, are long, flat speed bumps designed to slow but not halt traffic, typically 6 feet long and 3 to 4 inches high. According to the Institute of Transportation Engineers, installing speed tables can reduce crash incidents by 45%. They have been popularly used in large US cities, including Oakland, CA, Austin, TX, and New York City. Other countries, including the UK and Australia have used speed tables more widely.

Ben Donnell on Sterling Avenue and sees people speed past his house daily. “My concern is [Corona] park. Kids walk there by themselves and there are a lot of people with strollers,” he says. Donnell called the City of Tampa to look into installing speed tables on Sterling Avenue.

However, funding for speed tables as a traffic calming measure has been eliminated, Donnell discovered. The City recommends only speed limit enforcement, in spite of the fact that there no posted speed limits on Sterling.

This leaves residents near Sterling with a couple of options: request regular police presence on this street (an unlikely use of police resources) or initiate and fund a speed table project as a neighborhood.

Donnell lays out the process as explained to him by City officials:

Enlist neighborhood association support for the project, specifically financial support.

Petition the City to have speed tables installed – this would need resident buy-in

Get a work permit of the City (including approval from emergency services)

Hire a city-approved contractor to construct speed tables

After hearing Donnell’s concerns, the City of Tampa will be conducting a two-week traffic study of Sterling Ave. between Bay to Bay and El Prado sometime in the next two months.

This section of Sterling lacks any traffic calming measures. People rarely park on Sterling and the paving is smooth. Not only are there zero stop signs for this half-mile stretch, there are not even any crosswalks to guide students walking or biking to Roosevelt Elementary, Plant High School, or middle school bus stops or to help people reach Corona Park, popular especially with young children.

With Tampa ranking as one of the most dangerous cities for pedestrians in the United States, with a rise in the number of children in this neighborhood using Sterling Avenue to access public schools and a public park, with data clearly demonstrating the link between speed and car crash incidents, it is time to take a closer look at the kind of traffic calming measures the City of Tampa employs in our neighborhoods.

Make speed tables, proven-effective internationally and locally, part of the solution.

The Sidewalk Stompers are proud to announce that the Hillsborough County Planning Commission's 35th Annual Planning & Design Awards program has honored us with an Outstanding Contribution to the Community award for 2017.

"We were honored to be in the room with so many remarkable people in the planning community who have put together incredible projects ranging from 'complete street' initiatives to public art installations. We are very proud of the Sidewalk Stompers, the Roosevelt PTA, Palma Ceia businesses and especially the wonderful Roosevelt students and parents for their hard work, turning a weekly Walk to School into a neighborhood initiative that can truly engender positive steps toward building safer routes to school," says Emily Hinsdale.

Thank you to the Planning Commission for the award. Thank you to Walk Bike Tampa, Lisa Silva, and Cindy Stuart for their encouragement and support.

Thank you Roosevelt Elementary School! Can't wait to see where we can walk together next!

Palma Ceia residents and Roosevelt Elementary School parents who must cross Bay to Bay to reach the school share their thoughts:

Monica O’Flanagan, Palma Ceia resident and Roosevelt Elementary parent:“We have been walking to Roosevelt with two of our children for 8 years now. We have witnessed countless close calls between pedestrians and cars, accidents and discourteous driving at the intersection of Bay to Bay and Concordia. It is still shocking to me that there are no safety precautions in place to protect elementary-aged children walking to school. Walking to school provides exercise to students (and parents!), reduces traffic congestion through our neighborhoods, encourages community interaction and is a small step in reducing our carbon footprint. This should be encouraged and our children should feel safe.”

Monica Chandler, Palma Ceia resident and Roosevelt Elementary parent:“I have experienced countless incidents where cars run the red light, turn quickly off Bay to Bay without yielding, or simply don’t pay attention to the pedestrian traffic at that corner. It has been enough to cause me to not walk my children to school. [The Concordia and Bay to Bay] corner is the safest light to cross Bay to Bay, yet it is still not safe.”

Nicki Rawlings, Roosevelt Elementary parent:“[My daughter] attends Roosevelt Elementary IPEEPS (ESE-Special Education) program. We walk daily from our home on Bayshore Blvd to the school via Macdill to Bay to Bay to Ferdinand. A direct route to the school is not more readily available because of the railroad tracks and Leroy Selmon Crosstown Expressway. The 15-minute walk entails crossing Macdill and crossing the exit ramp from the Crosstown as it approaches Bay to Bay. Because drivers are allowed to ‘yield’ if they are making a right hand turn and drivers are allowed to exit the expressway at high speeds, often times, despite the pedestrian signal in my favor, I am met by a speeding vehicle making the curve without realization that they need to stop for persons in the crosswalk. Additionally, often times drivers block the pedestrian crosswalk trying to merge into traffic on Bay to Bay.”

Lori Jennis, Palma Ceia resident and Roosevelt Elementary parent:“We have walked our children to Roosevelt Elementary for the past six years and have often witnessed near-miss accidents involving pedestrians, car-to-car collisions that could cause secondary impacts to pedestrians, and just plain ignorant drivers unaware that it is the only designated school crossing point on Bay to Bay Blvd.

"The Concordia – Bay to Bay intersection is a multiple threat collision point as it currently exists. There are poorly marked crosswalks, limited pedestrian crossing signals, and no crossing guards or Slow Motor Vehicle Speed Limits during school hours. I am amazed to see crossing guards, speed restrictions, flashing beacons, and other high visibility deterrents when traveling through other school crossing zones on mere two-lane city roads.

“Besides the imminent threat of a pedestrian or child’s death, what will it take to improve this major school crosswalk to national DOT/FHWA standards?

Sidewalk Stompers, a parent-led, Palma-Ceia-based organization focused on safe pedestrian pathways to school, is in strong support of a redesigned Bay to Bay Blvd that reduces the number of car lanes to incorporate dedicated bicycle lanes and a central turning lane. Improving Bay to Bay’s function is essential to the future success of our school-focused pedestrian project.

Attempts to mitigate dangers of Bay to Bay.

Sidewalk Stompers' Emily Hinsdale leads the Hillsborough County School Transportation Working Group on a walking tour of Bay to Bay Blvd. The Stompers have introduced a flag bucket initiative to make families more visible, but speeding traffic and substandard walking infrastructure make Bay to Bay a dangerous obstacle nonetheless.

Bay to Bay an obstacle for Roosevelt, Mabry, and Plant.

An optimized Bay to Bay Boulevard isn't just a good thing for Roosevelt Elementary families. Dale Mabry Elementary, Coleman Middle and Plant High School draw students from south of Bay to Bay Boulevard.

Accessibility challenges are everywhere.

The volume of traffic and insufficient protections from vehicles makes walking on Bay to Bay unpleasant. The lack of accessibility for people in wheelchairs or with strollers makes Bay to Bay dangerous.

Businesses and residents win with a three-lane Bay to Bay.

A three-lane format that allows for a comparable volume of traffic while offering safe walking and biking pathways would create a more pleasant environment for Bay to Bay businesses - consistent with the general feeling of the neighborhood.

Sidewalk Stompers promotes walking/biking to school as a healthy, community-building activity for our neighborhood children. In concert with the Roosevelt Elementary School Parent Teacher Association, we hold monthly Walk to School Wednesday events, where we have seen a more than 2x increase in participation. Our school has been commended by the Metropolitan Planning Organization and the school board for our efforts to provide a responsible path for getting children to school.

However, outdated and non-existent road safety infrastructure has proven a major impediment. School pedestrian programs cannot grow if students cannot safely walk along school routes.

Bay to Bay Blvd. is a significant barrier, bisecting the neighborhood of Palma Ceia. Residents on the north side of Bay to Bay must cross four lanes of traffic to reach their children’s district-assigned elementary school, Roosevelt. The crossing is particularly daunting during morning rush hour, as sunrise dangerously limits eastbound traffic visibility.

Sidewalk Stompers has made every effort to increase safety at crossings on Bay to Bay Blvd. We have educated the children about pedestrian safety rules and laws as well as common sense efforts to reduce risk. We have instituted a “flag bucket program,” providing students with large, orange traffic flags to make them more visible crossing the street. We have requested that our decades out-of-date traffic lights be replaced with current approved models.

A three-lane approach that serves a similar volume of traffic, while better ensuring pedestrian and bicycle safety seems the obvious solution.

We are asking Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa to include the needs of Bay to Bay area school children in any planning. Reformatting this dangerous road as a three-lane route with bike access and well-marked and updated crosswalks is essential to our neighborhood and our children.

New Bell Schedule Increases Pressure on Sub-Standard Student Pathways to School

By Emily L. Hay Hinsdale & Tim Scheu

You’re 11 years old. You’re standing on the sidewalk by a four-lane highway, speed limit 40mph. The challenge: Reach the other side of the highway through rush hour traffic and make it to school by 9:30a.m. Ready?

No, this isn’t a video game; this is the proposed plan to get Hillsborough County students to school starting this fall.

According to a recent report by Smart Growth America, the Tampa Bay area is already one of the top 10 most dangerous metro areas for pedestrians. With diminished school busing already assumed, the proposed bell schedule changes only exacerbate that challenge and increase pressure on the region’s road safety infrastructure to protect kids accessing public education.

Should the school district’s proposed bell schedule changes meet with the school board’s approval on April 25th, here is what morning school transportation will look like for district students:

High School, 7:15a.m. Transportation options include an increasingly limited supply of school buses, rides with parents or via their own cars, public transportation, and walking/biking. For a portion of the year, students will be on the way to school in the dark, crossing highways and roads with no sidewalks, faded or non-existent crosswalks, few traffic lights, and no crossing guards.

Middle School, 9:30a.m. Transportation options are the same for middle schoolers as for high schoolers, minus student drivers. With a mid-morning start time, well after most parents’ jobs start, many 11-14-year-old students will be reaching school by themselves, traveling as far as (just under) 2 miles across highways and through rush-hour traffic.

Elementary School, 8:30a.m. Most elementary schools will have limited to non-existent school busing options next year, meaning that students will arrive at school by walking/biking or being driven by parents. As with middle school students, children whose parents’ jobs begin before 8:30a.m. will be approaching schools by themselves.

There is an opportunity here for the school board, school district, Hillsborough County and City of Tampa to work in concert for a goal that should be desired by all: responsibly and safely moving students from their homes to their schools. As the law of the land requires children to attend school, it becomes a job for all of us to make it safe for them to do so.

Many safety measures are simple, but will require appropriate budgeting buy-in from our elected representatives: include pedestrian safety education in school programs, bring crosswalks on school walking routes up to current code, install more effective signage around school zones that is clear for pedestrians and drivers, mandate sidewalk construction near schools, and provide more responsive crossing lights near schools.

District officials are under pressure to operate responsibility, ensuring that revenues cover the cost of school bussing. They’ve demonstrated creativity in offering a new, albeit controversial, bell schedule. It would seem similarly prudent to ensure that safe pathways for our kids are also in place. It’s not clear how they model the cost of student fatalities, but accidents like that can’t help the bottom line.

We urge our city, county, and school representatives to take a proactive approach to student transportation. Prioritize discussions about student safety before the vote on April 25. Consider the suite of needed infrastructure improvements. Imagine yourself or your kids in the shoes of that 11-year-old, approaching that four-lane highway. What’s it going to take to make you feel safe?

Emily L. Hay Hinsdale and Tim Scheu are two of the Co-Founders of Sidewalk Stompers, a Tampa-based effort powering community building and safer pedestrian pathways via school-based walking programs and public advocacy. For more information see www.sidewalkstompers.org.

It’s early morning on a school day. The sun is just up, the streets are still shadowed, the birds are singing, and it’s time for school. Here’s your choice: load the kids in the car and join the long carline of irritated parents running late... or walk to school!

The Palma Ceia Sidewalk Stompers, a neighborhood group of Roosevelt Elementary School parents, launched this past winter with the specific aim of supporting and encouraging neighborhood children walking to area schools.

With the support of the Palma Ceia Neighborhood Association, the Sidewalk Stompers began their program with “Walk to School Wednesdays” at Roosevelt. Carrying signs homemade by Roosevelt students, the group greeted fellow walkers each Wednesday of the school year and also organized free monthly raffles; any students arriving by foot instead of by car were eligible to participate. During the 2015-16 school year, over 15 Roosevelt students won prizes donated by area businesses just for walking to school! Dough, Dancebox Studio, Starbucks, Mango Bay Trading Co. and the Roosevelt Dads Club showed their support for Roosevelt walkers by donating the prizes.

Here are the key reasons the Palma Ceia Sidewalk Stompers are showing up on foot at school:

Safety in Numbers. More children (and their parents!) walking together makes them more visible to oncoming cars, especially at dangerous and unprotected crosswalks like the corners of Concordia and Bay to Bay or Obispo and Himes.

Decreasing traffic around the school. If more children are getting to school on foot, that means fewer cars in the carline or parked on side streets.

It's healthy! For the mind and the body. Morning exercise builds fit kids and helps them start their school day with focused and active minds.

Be part of the community. Spending time with other children and parents walking to school together each morning, not to mention meeting other residents out for morning walks, builds relationships with neighbors that make where we live a warmer and safer environment.

Roosevelt is in the heart of Palma Ceia and easily walkable from most Palma Ceia homes, but the Sidewalk Stompers would love to see the Walk to School Wednesdays program grow to other schools in the area.

In the long term, the Sidewalk Stompers hope to increase the number of students walking to school. With greater pedestrian traffic, the group hopes to interest city and county officials in reducing pedestrian hazards in the neighborhood. For example, other schools in South Tampa have crossing guards; although Roosevelt’s administration has requested a crossing guard for morning and afternoon drop off/pick up many times, so far county officials have not provided this safety measure. Similarly, residents’ pleas for safer crosswalks at major intersections connecting Palma Ceia, such as Bay to Bay and Himes crossings, have gone unanswered.

“We’re working to increase sensitivity to, and accountability for, the (preventable!) hazards walkers face on a daily basis,” says Scheu.

The Palma Ceia Sidewalk Stompers will be walking in the 2016-17 school year and the first Walk to School Wednesday raffle will be held in August. Have a student at Roosevelt? Walk to school any Wednesday this coming school year and your child will be eligible for the next Palma Ceia Sidewalk Stompers raffle!

(This article was originally featured in the August, 2016 issue of Palma Ceia Living.)